LED Light Glowing

Question

I just replaced a wall lamp with an LED lamp. When the lamp is switched off, the LED has a faint glow. It isn't a phosphorescent glow; it is receiving power. I noticed it at 4:00 AM after it had been off for hours. It is not detectable when there is any ambient light.

I saw a similar question, but it was solved by replacing the glowing "night light" wall switch. My light has no wall switch, just the switch on the unit itself.

Is there a way I can fix this (other than putting up the old lamp)? :)

Answer 1

It's either an intentional product feature (i.e. To serve as a night light) or an ...unintentional bug which would require really exceptionally bad design. If this is a quality premium unit, I would expect the former; if it's a bargain priced thing from China perhaps the latter.

But it would be really unusual for a product defect to leave a tiny bit of current flowing through the emitter, especially since LEDs are not prone to doing that accidentally due to how they work. Obviously, the switch should shut off power definitely, which means this couldn't happen.

I would check with the manufacfurer to see if the light is supposed to do that. If not, don't use it!